Heat-setting of fabrics



Feb. 15, 1966 R. HORNE ETAL 3,234,971

HEAT-SETTING OF FABRICS Filed Dec. 15, 1963 INVENTORS' RONALD HORNE JOHNL. MARSHALL, JR.

PAUL M. NEISLER, JR.

ATT NEY 3,234,971 HEAT-SETTING F FABRlCS Ronald Home, and .iohn L.Marshall, In, Pensacola, Fla,

and Paul M. Neisler, Jr., Kings Mountain, N.C., assignors, by direct andmesne assignments, to Dicey Mills incorporated, a corporation of NorthCarolina Filed Dec. 13, 1963, Ser. No. 330,294 4 Claims. (Cl. 139291)The present invention relates to thermally setting newlyformed textileproducts. More particularly, the invention concerns thermally settingthe product directly on the loom or knitting machine.

Newly-formed textile products are frequently somewhat unstablephysically and may be susceptible to damage by disarrangement ordisplacement of the fibers or yarns during latex-coating, dyeing orother subsequent operations. This susceptibility to damage isparticularly severe with certain fabric constructions, such astufted-pile or loopedpile fabrics. Sections of the fabric in which thepile has been disturbed frequently must be discarded since it would beuneconomical to repair them; in some operations waste or losses fromthis cause are as high as or percent of the total yardage produced.According to the present invention, the fabric is heat-set while stillon the loom and before the face of the fabric has been contacted byanything which might disturb the original and desired wovenconfiguration.

Accordingly a primary object of the invention is to provide an efficientmethod for heat-setting of fabrics.

A further object is to provide a method of the above character whichsignificantly increases the output of first quality fabric.

A further object is to provide heat-setting apparatus for practicing theabove method.

Other objects of the invention will in part be obvious and will in partappear hereinafter.

The invention accordingly comprises the features of construction,combination of elements, and arrangement of parts which will beexemplified in the construction hereinafter set forth, and the scope ofthe invention will be indicated in the claims.

For a more complete understanding of the nature and objects of theinvention, reference should be made to the following detaileddescription taken in connection with the accompanying drawing, in whichthe single figure is a schematic view of fabric-forming apparatusincorporating the present invention.

Referring now to the drawing, the invention is illustrated on ageneralized fabric-forming apparatus 20, which for simplicity ofdiscussion will be considered to be a Jacquard loom producing a wovenlooped-pile fabric 22. Immediately after being formed at the needles orpick line (not illustrated), fabric 22 passes over a support member suchas roll 2 and is laterally spread to the proper fabric width by aconventional temple mechanism 26. Fabric 22 next passes over a guideroll 28 and is wound on a take-up roll 30.

According to the present invention a heating element 32 is mounted onloom and extends transversely under fabric 22 to heat-set the loops inthe woven position at some point before the fabric is taken up bytake-up roll 30, i.e., before anything contacts or disarranges the loopson the face of the freshly-formed fabric. A temperature controller 34 isconnected to heating element 32, and maintains the element at the propertemperature.

Generally speaking, the rate at which heat is applied to the fabric mayvary over a wide range, being limited by the melting point of thefilaments on the one hand and by the necessity of applying heat rapidlyenough to set nited States Patent 0 3,234,971 Patented Feb. 15, 1966 thefabric as it is woven on the other hand. The proper temperature ofelement 32 will be determined by such factors as the fabricconstruction, the types of yarn employed, the spacing of the heatingelement from the fabric, the speed of the fabric past the heatingelement, and other similar considerations which will readily occur tothose skilled in the art.

As a specific example of the practice of the invention as applied to aJacquard loom, heating element 32 was mounted about inch below the loweror back surface of fabric 22, and extended across the entire width ofthe fabric. The backing fabric was of cotton and rayon construction andthe looped-pile was continuous filament nylon yarn having a total denierof 840 and 136 filaments. With about 7 /2 linear inches of fabric beingwoven and passing over element 32 per minute, temperature controller 34was adjusted to maintain element 32 at about C.

In normal operation of this particular loom without heat-settingprovided by element 32, approximately 6 to 8 yards of fabric per 60-yardcut were damaged by displacement of the loops during the variousfinishing operations to which the fabric was subjected. in contrast,when element 32 was maintained at 165 C., the damaged fabric was reducedto about two yards per 60-yard cut. The practice of the invention thusproduces a substantial reduction in damaged fabric and a consequent gainin efficiency.

While the invention has been specifically described as applied to aJacquard loom producing a woven loopedpile fabric, and while theadvantages of the invention are most fully realized when used forheat-setting woven tufted-pile or looped-pile fabrics such as carpets orupholstery fabrics, some degree of the advantages of the invention maybe obtained by similarly heat setting other fabric constructions on theloom or knitting machine immediately after the fabric is formed andbefore the desired fabric construction can be disarranged.

It may be seen from the above description together with the accompanyingdrawing that the present invention provides for greatly increasedefiiciency in the production of fabrics which contain thermoplasticyarns capable of being heat-set. By heat-setting the freshly formedfabric on the loom or knitting machine before the fabric has beendisarranged by subsequent processes, the fabric is stabilized in thedesired form and is much less subject to damage in later processingoperations to which the fabric may be subjected. The invention mayconveniently be practiced by mounting an electrical heater adjacent thefreshly formed fabric at some point before the fabric is taken up. Sinceelectrical heaters are conveniently available in compact physicaldimensions, such heaters may readily be added to existing looms orknitting machines at a minimum cost. However, other heat sources may beinstalled in place of the specifically disclosed electrical heater, ifdesired.

It will thus be seen that the objects set forth above, among those madeapparent from the preceding description, are efficiently attained and,since certain changes may be made in carrying out the above process andin the construction set forth without departing from the scope of theinvention, it is intended that all matter contained in the abovedescription or shown in the accompanying drawing shall be interpreted asillustrative and not in a limiting sense.

It is also to be understood that the following'claims are intended tocover all of the generic and specific features of the invention hereindescribed, and all statements of the scope of the invention which, as amatter of language, might be said to fall therebetween.

Having described our invention, what we claim as new and desire tosecure by Letters Patent is:

1. A method of manufacturing stable pile fabrics, comprising incombination:

(a) forming said fabric with a thermoplastic yarn projecting from theface of said fabric in a series of unrestrained loops;

(b) heating the back of said fabric to a temperature higher than thedrawing temperature of said yarn before the face of said fabric iscontacted;

(c) and taking up said fabric.

2. A method of manufacturing stable pile fabrics, comprising incombination:

(a) forming said fabric with a thermoplastic yarn projecting from theface of said fabric in a series of unrestrained loops;

(b) heating said fabric sufiiciently to thermally set said yarn withinsaid fabric before the face of the fabric is contacted;

(c) and taking up said fabric.

3. Apparatus for producing stable fabrics from yarn composed at least inpart of thermoplastic filaments, said apparatus comprising incombination:

(a) yarn handling means for forming said yarn into a fabric with saidthermoplastic filaments projecting from the face of said fabric in aseries of unrestrained loops;

(b) fabric take-up mechanism for taking up said fabric in an orderlyfashion;

(c) and heat-setting means located between said yarn handling means andsaid take-up mechanism for thermally setting said unrestrained loopsbefore said fabric is engaged by said take-up mechanism.

4. A loom weaving a fabric composed at least in part of thermoplasticyarn, said loom comprising:

(a) yarn handling means for forming said yarn into a fabric with saidthermoplastic yarn projecting from the face of said fabric in a seriesof unrestrained loops;

(b) a temple mechanism for spreading the freshly woven fabric to itsproper width;

(c) heating means located adjacent said fabric at a point near saidtemple mechanism for heat-setting said spread fabric in its wovenconfiguration while said projecting loops are unrestrained;

(d) and means for taking up said heat-set fabric in an orderly fashion.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 270,321 1/1883Lister et al. 139-292 X 1,305,373 6/1919 Koch 13921 1,835,316 12/1931Mellor 139-397 2,101,286 12/1937 Theunissen 139398 2,769,222 11/1956Southwell 139291 X 2,815,558 12/1957 Bartovics 2872 2,821,457 1/1958Erlich 2872 X 2,973,018 2/1961 Finlayson et al 139391 2,983,288 5/1961Metzler 139-291 3,061,907 11/1962 Nicholl 139291 X 3,078,543 2/1963Bloch 139391 X FOREIGN PATENTS 1,045,354 12/1958 Germany.

DONALD W. PARKER, Primary Examiner.

RUSSELL C. MADER, Examiner.

3. APPARATUS FOR PRODUCING STABLE FABRICS FROM YARN COMPOSED AT LEAST INPART OF THERMOPLASTIC FILAMENTS, SAID APPARATUS COMPRISING INCOMBINATION: (A) YARN HANDLING MEANS FOR FORMING SAID YARN INTO A FABRICWITH SAID THERMOPLASTIC FILAMENTS PROJECTING FROM THE FACE OF SAIDFABRIC IN A SERIES OF UNRESTRAINED LOOPS; (B) FABRIC TAKE-UP MECHANISMFOR TAKING UP SAID FABRIC IN AN ORDERLY FASHION; (C) AND HEAT-SETTINGMEANS LOCATED BETWEEN SAID YARN HANDLING MEANS AND SAID TAKE-UPMECHANISM FOR THERMALLY SETTING SAID UNRESTRAINED LOOPS BEFORE SAIDFABRIC IS ENGAGED BY SAID TAKE-UP MECHANSIM.